Ball valve supporting and centering device for flush tanks



Nov. 29, 1960 o. v. HOWARD BALL VALVE SUPPORTING AND CENTERING DEVICE FOR FLUSH TANKS Filed Jan. 16, 1959 FIG. 4.

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Hal 157 fi /Fla INVENTOR: OSCAR v. HOWARD,

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Ofiice BALL VALVE SUPPORTING AND CENTERING DEVICE FOR FLUSH TANKS Oscar V. Howard, 2309 S. th, East, Salt Lake City, Utah Filed Jan. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 787,187

5 Claims. (01. 4-57 This invention relates to ball valve supporting and centering mechanism for flush tanks, and is concerned with providing a simple and easily installed device that eflectively overcomes the long-existing and always annoying problem of flush water leakage, particularly in toilet flush tanks.

According to the invention, a stationary support is provided, this preferably being a bracket adapted for attachment to the usual overflow pipe. The bracket includes a platform which extends out from the overflow pipe and overhangs the usual ball valve seat. Such platform may conveniently be of grid formation, adapted to adjustably support a depending tubular guide for the ball valve stem.

A feature of the invention is that the aforesaid tubular guide is of sufficient length to positively maintain an angle of approximately 180 degrees between the longitudinal axis of the stem and the longitudinal axis of the tubular guide, and to thereby guide the stem upwardly or downwardly, without binding or other interference with its movement, along a fixed axis aligned with the center of the usual ball valve seat. An adjustable mounting is provided on the platform for accurately centering the tubular guide with respect to the valve seat, whereby proper seating of the ball valve is assured. This stem guide mounting and the platform advantageously embody a plurality of adjustment slots, and clamp fasteners extending therethrough, for enabling the mounting to be clamped tightly to the platform in any given position of adjustment between the stem guide and the ball valve seat which it overhangs.

An optional feature of the invention is that extra weight may be easily and conveniently added to the ball valve, for the purpose of increasing the certainty of its descent by gravity toward and into proper seating relationship with its seat.

Further objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of specific forms of the device.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates several embodiments of the invention satisfactorily installed in conventional toilet flush tanks:

Fig. 1 represents a top plan view of one construction of the device of the invention;

Fig. 2, a front elevation of the device and installation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a side elevation;

Fig. 4, a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 in, Fig. 1, parts in the, background being largely omitted;

Fig. 5, a top plan view of another construction, the overflow pipe being shown in horizontal section and the view being drawn to a reduced scale;

Fig. 6, a fragmentary rear elevation of the device and installation of Fig. 5 drawn to the same reduced scale; and

Fig. 7, a side elevation of the construction of Figs. 5 and 6 drawn to the same reduced scale, portions of the stem, guide sleeve, and ball valve being brokenout for I Patented Nov. 29, 1960 2 convenience of illustration and-no extra weight being associated with the ball valve.

Referring to the drawing: In the construction of Figs. 1 to 4, the numeral 10 denotes the overflow pipe of a conventional ball valveassembly. The overflow pipe 10 is fixedly mounted in the usual base 11, the latter being secured to the bottom 12 of a standard flush tank, Fig. 2, by means of a depending, threaded portion 11a and a nut 11b. 5

The usual, flexible, ball valve 13 of rubber or the like is adapted to close by gravity upon the usual seat 14 surrounding the opening customarily provided for draining flush water from the tank.

As indicated above, a particular object of the invention is to insure accurate seating of the ball valve 13 following any flushing of the tank. In this connection, it should be noted'that the ball valve is provided with the usual elongate stem 15, which enables lifting of such ball valve from its seat by the usual mechanism (not shown) when it is desired to release the water from the flush tank, as

in flushing a toilet.

In accordance with the invention, an elongate tubular: guide 17 depends from a retainer 18 adjustably mounted on a supporting platform 19, which is here of grid formation and which forms part of a bracket 20, Fig. 3, at-

tached to overflow pipe 10.

In this embodiment, the grid platform 19 is of modified horseshoe form, see Fig. 1,- being made up of two longitudinally slotted arms 19a and 1% which are adjustable vertically and horizontally relative to the overflow pipe 10. Such arms 19a and 19b advantageously constitute integral parts of respective standards 20a and 20b arranged face-to-face to form a composite single.

standard, which is provided with clamping collars 21.

The clamping of the collars 21 may be accomplished by.

any suitable means such as screws 22.

Tubular guide 17 is adjustably supported by grid platform 19 and depends therefrom by means of a longitudinally slotted bar 23. The upper end of such tubular guide 17 is externally threaded and extends through the slot of bar 23, being securely clamped in adjusted position with respect to the bar by means of retainer 18, which is here made up of a pair of nuts screwed onto guide 17- and disposed above and below bar 23, respectively.

Slotted bar 23 is, in turn, adjustably clamped upon grid platform 19 by means of bolts 24 and 25 extending through the slot of bar 23 and through the slots 26 and 27 of the platform arm, respectively, see especially Fig. 1. It can be readily seen that, by sliding bar 23 into an appropriate position on its grid platform prior to tightening the bolts 24 and 25 and by sliding tubular guide,

17 along such mounting bar 23 to an appropriate position prior to tightening the clamping nuts which make up retainer 18, extremely accurate centering of such tubular guide 17 can be effected.

Ball valve stem 15 extends through the hollow interior of tubular guide 17, so as to be guided in its up and down movement associated with the opening and re-closing of the tank drain. It should be noted that the inside diameter of tubular guide 17 is slightly greater than the diameter of stem 15, see Fig. 4, so as to provide for free action of such stem at all times, and that the length of tubular guide 17 is preferably as long as is reasonablypossible, given adequate leeway for the lifting action usual with ball valves of this type It has been found very'satisfactory to make the inside diameter of the guide tube half again as great as the diameter of the stem and to make the guide tube approxi-- mately half the efiective length of the stem.

As illustrated, a sleeve 28 is loosely set on the hub 29 of ball valve 13 as a Weight. .It is of such length as :0

comprehend the lower end portion of tubular guide 17 when ball valve 13 is fully seated, see Fig. 4, and has its inside diameter slightly greater than the outside diameter of tubular guide 17, so as to Slide freely along such guide when the ball valve is lifted. Its wall thickness, length, and the material from which it is made will be such as to supply the additional weight desired in any given instance to facilitate positive and smooth descent of ball valve 13 by gravity following any opening of the drain.

As can be seen from Fig. 7, the provision of weight sleeve 28 is optional.

In the foregoing embodiment of the invention, the platform is of grid formation provided by the separately formed arms 19a and 19b, which are spaced apart in side-by-side relationship to define a platform opening 19-1 through which the tubular guide 17 depends.

In the construction shown in Figs. 7, which is presently preferred to that shown in Figs. 14, the platform 31, bracket leg 44, and bracket reinforcing member 43 are integrally formed as a single metal stamping, the platform 31 being of plate formation configurated to provide arm portions 32 and 33 defining therebetween a space 34 for accommodating the overflow pipe (here designated 35). A reinforcing rib 36 is advantageously stamped into the relatively narrow strip connecting such arm portions 32 and 33.

Split ring clamps 46 are secured to bracket leg 44 by means of clamp-actuating bolts 45, which, when tightened, serve to Secure the device of the invention to the overflow pipe 35 in adjusted position overhanging the ball valve seat.

An opening 47 is formed in arm portion 33 of platform 31 to serve the same purpose as platform opening 19-1 of the previous embodiment, namely, to provide leeway for adjusting the position of the depending tubular guide with respect to the ball valve seat.

In the present embodiment, the tubular guide 37 for the stem 15 of ball valve 13 is fixedly secured in elongate mounting bar 39 between a pair of longitudinally extending slots 38, and such mounting bar is adjustably positioned on and secured to platform 31 with the tubular guide 37 depending through opening 47. It should be noted that both opening 47 and opening 19-1 are considerably greater in extent than the cross-sectional area or diameter of the tubular guide so as to afford ample leeway for adjustment.

For purposes of adjustment, platform 31 is provided with a pair of elongate slots 40 disposed at opposite sides of platform opening 47 and extending at approximately right angles to the slots 38 of mounting bar 37 so as to cross such slots 38. Clamping bolts 41 extend through the respective sets of slots 38, 40, and serve to tightly secure mounting bar 37 to platform 31 in any given adjusted position of tubular guide 37 relative to the ball valve seat.

It can be readily seen that, in both of the aforedescribed constructions, the tubular guide can be easily and quickly centered with respect to the ball valve and ball valve seat, so that the ball valve stem will slide freely and smoothly along the tubular guide.

Whereas this invention is here illustrated and described with respect to specific embodiments thereof, it should be realized that changes may be made within the scope of the following claims, Without departing from the essential contributions to the art made by the teachings hereof.

I claim:

1. A ball valve supporting device for flush tanks which have a bottom outflow opening for flush water, a ball valve seat surrounding said outflow opening, a ball valve and stem, and an overflow pipe, the said ball valve supporting device comprising bracket means adapted for rigid attachment to the overflow pipe and having a platform arranged to extend outwardly from said pipe and over said valve seat below but adjacent to the upper end of said stem, said platform being provided with an opening therethrough; an elongate guide tube for said stem; an elongate bar slotted longitudinally and resting on the platform, said guide tube having its upper end portion extending through said opening and secured to said bar so as to depend therebelow and terminate above the upper limit of travel of said ball valve when lifted from its seat to initiate a flushing operation, said opening being considerably greater in extent than the guide tube diameter, so as to provide for positional adjustment of the guide tube relative to the ball valve seat, and the platform being slotted at opposite sides of its opening and at approximately right angles to the bar slotting; and clamping fasteners extending through the platform slotting and the bar slotting for securing said bar to the platform in adjusted position of the guide tube relative to the ball valve seat.

2. The ball valve supporting device of claim 1, wherein the platform has a leg portion depending along said overflow pipe, and clamps for adjustably securing said leg portion to said overflow pipe.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein a relatively short sleeve is slidably fitted about the lower end of the guide tube and rests on the ball valve as added weight therefor.

4. A ball valve supporting device for flush tanks which have a bottom outflow opening for flush water, a ball valve seat surrounding said outflow opening, a ball valve and stem, and an overflow pipe, the said ball valve supporting device comprising bracket means adapted for rigid attachment to the overflow pipe and having a platform arranged to extend outwardly from said pipe and over said valve seat below but adjacent to the upper end of said stern, said platform having an opening; an elongate mounting bar positioned on said platform, an elongate guide tube for said stem, said guide tube being fixedly secured to said mounting bar and depending below said platform through said opening so as to terminate above the upper limit of travel of said ball valve when lifted from its said seat to initiate a flushing operation, said opening being considerably greater in extent than the diameter of said guide tube to afford leeway for adjusted positioning of the mounting bar on the platform, said mounting bar being longitudinally slotted to provide a pair of longitudinally extending slots disposed at opposite sides of the guide tube, and said platform being slotted at substantially right angles to the slotting of said mounting bar to provide a pair of elongate slots disposed at opposite sides of said platform opening and crossing said slots in the mounting bar, respectively; and a pair of clamping fasteners extending through the respective sets of crossed slots and adapted to secure said mounting bar to said platform in adjusted position of said guide tube relative to the ball valve seat.

5. A ball valve supporting device for flush tanks which have a bottom outflow opening for flush water, a ball valve seat surrounding said outflow opening, a ball valve and stem, and an overflow pipe, the said ball valve supporting device comprising bracket means adapted for rigid attachment to the overflow pipe and having a platform arranged to extend outwardly from said pipe and over said valve seat below but adjacent to the upper end of said stern, said platform having an opening; an elongate mounting bar positioned on said platform, an elongate guide tube for said stem, said guide tube being adjustably secured to said mounting bar and depending below said platform through said opening so as to terminate above the upper limit of travel of said ball valve when lifted from its said seat to initiate a flushing operation, said opening being considerably greater in extent than the diameter of said guide tube to afford leeway for adjusted positioning of the mounting bar on the platform, said mounting bar being slotted longitudinally to provide a single elongate slot, and said platform being slotted at substantially right angles to the slotting of said mounting bar to provide a pair of elongate slots disposed at opposite sides of said platform opening and crossing said slot in the mounting bar; and a pair of clamping fasteners extending through the said elongate slots of the platform, respectively, and through the said slot of the mounting bar and adapted to secure said mounting bar to said platform in adjusted position of said guide tube UNITED STATES PATENTS Lyons July 27, 1926 Gleason May 27, 1958 

